Hame-tug



(No Model.) v l J. W. ROOKWOOD.

HAME TUG.

ted Mar. 13., 1894.

A TTOHNE YS.

'nl NA'rloNAL tNrrnn STATES FATENII OFFICE.

JAMES W. ROOKVVOOD, OF JERlCO, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN W. DAVIS, OF JERIOOA` SPRINGS, MISSOURI.

HAM E-TUG.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 516,404, dated March 13, 1894.

Application tiled September 20, 1893. Serial No. 485.971. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that LJAMEs W. RooKwooD, of J erico, in the county of Cedar and State of Missouri,have invented a new and Improved Hame-Tug, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in harnesses, and especially to harne tugs; and the object o f my invention is to produce a haine tug which may be conveniently applied to any hame in ordinary use, is adapted for either single or double harnesses, has means for longitudinal adjustment, which means does not include the puncturing of any portion of the tug so as to decrease its strength, which is also provided with means for adjusting the trace thereon without having holes in the trace, and which is adapt-ed to connect with and be adjusted vertically on the back band of the harness, to the end that 1t may be easily suited to horses of all sizes.

To this end my invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed. l

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the hame tug embodying my invention. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of the fastening head which lis riveted or otherwise secured to thel harness trace and is adapted to engage the hame tug.

The body 10 of the hame tug is elongated, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, and it is provided on its back side with a -plate 1l, preferably of leather, as this side comes next the horse, which plate is firmly secured to the body 10 and has its ends preferably attached to the body by rivets 12. The body 10 is also firmly fastened to the back plate 11 by straps 13 which extend transversely across the body through grooves 14 in its face and are firmly fastened at the ends to the plate 11. The front end of the hame tug terminates in a fork 15 between the members of which is held the strap 16, adapted to connect with the hame, and for this purpose the free end of the strap is provided with a strong eye 17 which engages the usual hook or drawbar of the haine.' The strap 16 connects with the forked ends of the tug body by means of a bolt 18 which extends transversely through an eye 19 at the rear end `of the strap, and the members of the fork are provided with a series of holes 20, so that the bolt 18 may be placed in either pair of holes and the tug may thus be longitudinally adjusted and the means of adjustment does not materially weaken it. The free ends of the members of the fork 15 are connected by a cross bar 21, which strengthens the fork and also serves as a guide for the strap 16. The free end of the body 10, that is, the end opposite to that to which the strap 16 is secured, terminates in a guide loop or keeper 22, through which the harness trace 22a extends, and this end v of the body 10 is slotted transversely, as shown at 23, to receive the back band of a harness. A leaf 24 is hinged, as shown at 25,

so as to swing across the slot 23, and on the inner side of the leaf 24 is atongue 26 which is adapted to engage the perforations of the back band. The body 10 is provided at intervals with holes 2-7 which are preferably rectangular and these are widened next the back plate 11, as shown at 28 in Figs. 2 and 3. These holes are intended to receive the fastening head 29 of the trace 22a, which head is firmly riveted to the trace, having a shank 30 which lies iiatwise on the trace and' through which the rivets pass. The shank is bent at a right angle to form the bolt 31 which extends through the holes 27 and this bolt has on opposite sides fianges 32 which are adapted to project into the recesses 28 and which, when in this position, prevent the removal of the head 29 and the consequent detaching of the trace. The holes 27 are longer than they are wide, and consequently the flanges 32 may be inserted by first turning them into line with the holes, after which they are turned around in the recesses 28 so as to lock the head 29 and trace 22a to the haine tug. It will be observed that the head 29 may be fastened in either of the holes 27 and in this way the trace may be adjusted, and it is not necessary to punch holes in the IOO trace as is the cese Where the trace is used in connection with the ordinary buckle, and hence the trace, when arranged as described, is much stronger than usual.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. In a hanne tug, the combination with a body provided with a transverse slot, of a. leaf hinged to the body and provided with a. tongue projecting into the slot, and a, trace head secured to the body in front of the slot thereof, whereby the leaf will be held closed by the trace substantially as described.

2. The herein described herne tug, consisting of an apertured and slotted body having a. keeper at one end and a fork at its other end, the members of the fork being provided with a plurality of apertures, a back plate secured to the body a strap adapted to be secured to a, haine and adjustably secured between the forks of the body, by a bolt passing through an eye in the strap `and the apertures of the members of the fork :L hinged leaf provided with a tongue projecting into the slot of the body, and a trace head provided with a bolt fitting in the apertures of the body, as set forth.

J AMES W. ROOKWOOD. Witnesses:

R. D. SPRAGUE, M. F. DAVIS. 

